Modifying the Front Outer CV Joints

Today we had a pretty exciting and interesting day! Mike took the new CV drive axles that arrived last week and lopped off the outer CV joints in order to retro-fit them into what he needed for the front suspension. First, he drilled a hole into a piece of 4×4 wood so that he could fit the joint ends into it in order to create a steady grip when cutting them in half with the circular saw. It worked perfectly as the wood served as a handle, but also allowed for the joint to rotate easily as he cut around it with the saw. Once both CV joints were successfully cut off, he spray painted them and then attached them to the front wheel hubs. It was pretty impressive. They don’t call him an evil genius for nothing!

Rear Axles Installed

The long and winding rear axle road has been completed. In the end, the axles were Frankensteined together using the Factory Five provided axle shafts, the used Subaru rear outer CV joints from CA, and the used Subaru rear inner CV joints from PA. Everything fits together well and seems to work fine at this point. Many lessons were learned here…most importantly, don’t assume that aftermarket parts will fit your kit car!

CV Joints and Boots

The CV joints and boots story is a long and complicated one, so this post was written by the man himself, Mike the Master Mechanic…

The problem here is that I thought all axles were created equal. First, I ordered a complete set (4) of aftermarket axles with CV joints and boots for a Subaru WRX. Factory Five (FFR) supplies two new axles that are to be used in the rear of the 818. In order to use the FFR axles, you must mix-and-match the CV joints from the original (donor car) axles. The problem is that the axle shafts on all of the aftermarket axles are fatter than the originals. Therefore, the aftermarket CV joints don’t fit the FFR supplied shafts. So, I decided that I must use actual Subaru parts in order to be certain that the CV joints are interchangeable.

New Subaru axles are crazy expensive, so I decided to get some dirt-cheap used Subaru axles. I was able to get some inside front CV joints that fit the FFR shafts, but the rear outside joints seemed rusted to the point that I don’t want to use them. In the 818 manual, they recommend using AutoZone 10705 axles with the FFR supplied 80237 axles. I ordered and received the 10705 axles, but they are skinnier than the Subaru axles, so those CV joints will not work either. Now, I’m waiting for another set of rear Subaru axles to arrive from California (hopefully with less rust) to see if they will work. All of this is a prerequisite to completing the transmission and rear suspension.

Update: Rear Axles Installed